My time in GigCity came to an end with the transition from September to October. Looking over my camera roll from the last week, there are as many images of book pages as there are of actual sites and people. This is because I spent the week reading, reflecting, and planning for what’s to come. As you have already read in the previous post, I will be starting a podcast soon, and I also have my 36 item recommendation list that I’m working on.
It’s kind of silly really…I’m giving myself homework! Book reports and a 3 month long project! But, the school system in the US (the only one I’ve experienced) is really quite beautiful when you break it down. Each and every year, there are challenges to overcome, new friends to make, new environments to get used to. You learn an incredible amount of material each and every year, and that’s not even talking about all the physical, emotional, and psychological growth you experience. On top of that, you get an awesome break for several weeks in the middle of winter, and 3 months off in summer where you get to go to camp, or on trips, or just experience longer, warmer, more carefree days. I guess I’m a little nostalgic as I write this post from Queenstown, as I feel like I’ve arrived at my summer camp for this trip. I’ll post on that more later.
Let’s get my last week in GigCity documented!
Day 36 (Monday Sep 24) –
After an adventurous previous week, I had a quiet Monday morning at Blend Cafe in Mosgiel. By this time, I was a regular and I really enjoyed seeing the small crew that ran the coffee shop each morning. I also had my favorite seat, in the back, in a corner, right by a power outlet.
I was reading The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell as well as some passages in the Bible and journaling. I also typed up my recommendation of The Alienist and opened up “My Recommendations” on www.trinitydreamer.com. 
I walked back to Gary’s place around noon and had soup for lunch, then went to the library for the afternoon, and had dinner at Subway. I colored that night and finished the picture that I would use for my October 2018 playlist which is called ReInvented. I got a little distracted and so I didn’t notice that I hadn’t completed the move goal on my Apple Watch. I had to burn my last 20 calories around 10pm, and quit at 633 calories (I need 630 active calories burned each day). But it was a restful day, and I REALLY enjoyed The Power of Myth.
Day 37 (Tuesday Sep 25) – I went into Dunedin on Tuesday morning and spent several hours at Starbucks. I made a declaration on Facebook from another quote I had encountered in The Power of Myth and continued reading.
After a couple hours there, I went to the Dunedin Public library to stretch my legs and get a change of scenery. They had a cool stained glass window as well as some other interesting things to see.
I then spent about 4 hours in the library. I made a post about My Jewelry and started writing my massive Week 3 in GigCity post, although I didn’t quite finish it. Towards the end of my time there, I met a girl named Elza and we got to know each other a little bit. She is a student in Dunedin and since classes were finishing up that week, she would head home for the next two weeks. She lives fairly close to Queenstown, and she offered to show me around. We exchanged phone numbers and I said I would contact her once I got settled in Queenstown.
It was about 3pm at this point, I hadn’t had lunch, and I was hungry! I walked to McDonalds since I knew it would be quick meal. I ordered my food from the electronic kiosk, and then grabbed my number. Of course it was a 3!
Then I took a picture of the 3 once I got to my table…It was total coincidence that the time was 3:33pm.
And then I finally looked up (because I had been staring at my phone to take the picture), and I saw wisdom on the walls of McDonalds!
It was just really cool to experience the numbers and words lining up like that, and I truly feel like I am on a journey of creating myself…giving birth over these next 9 months to Derek 2.0, the full expression of what God intended me to be, a homosexual Christian.
After filling my belly, I went back to Mosgiel and had another relaxing night reading. I was moving on to Torn, a story of Justin Lee’s journey as he came to terms with his homosexuality and how it would co-exist with his Christianity. I must confess that I speed-read through it in one night, because lots of the ideas that he brought up I had already thought through, read about, and even heard talked about at CMYK, my church in Billings, MT. After finishing it though, I decided to purchase a copy and give it to my mother. While my own autobiography didn’t do much to change her belief that homosexuality is sinful, I was hopeful that this book might succeed where I failed.
Day 38 (Wednesday Sep 26) – I uploaded my Week 3 in GigCity post this morning and started on another one of my recommendations this morning, This House of Sky, a Montana memoir. Then, Gary and I went had an adventure to the coast to see albatross, but not before feeding Monster, his cat, some egg.
The hour long drive to the center hugged the coastline, and Gary and I had a nice time chatting. Once we got out to the center, we realized it was VERY windy (as evidenced by my photo without my hood on) and somewhat cold.We spent some time seeing the exhibits in the center, and then took a walk around the grounds for about 15 minutes. We didn’t spot any albatross, but we had an enjoyable time. On the drive back, we took a different route that was higher up the coast so we got some other views. It was a very pleasant adventure for the morning.
I spent the afternoon reading and working on my blog (I started creating the section called “My Inventory“). I actually don’t have any record of what I did that night, as I don’t have any photos, facebook posts, or blog posts. So let’s just say I went to bed early and got lots of rest!
Day 38 (Thursday Sep 27) – I again went in to Dunedin and hung out at Starbucks. This is when I started listening to Blue Babies Pink, and I was still reading This House of Sky. I messaged Guy this morning to see what his weekend plans were. I really wanted to see him one last time before I left, but it turned out he was planning on going to Christchurch for the weekend, and so we wouldn’t be able to see each other.
In the afternoon, I walked around Dunedin for a bit before and got a two other interesting pictures of “figures”. The horse and rider caught my eye since I was reading a book about Montana and cowboys.
I then met up with Brandon, who I met my first week in Mosgiel (he was bungy boy). At that time, we had pizza which I paid for, so he was repaying me on this day. He took me to the esplanade on the coast and got us coffee. We walked around for a bit, and then sat in his car and talked about life, our futures, and our mutual love of Hearthstone, lol. I encountered ANOTHER rainbow as well, and it was the real thing!
That night, I put up my recommendation for The Power of Myth.
Day 39 (Friday Sep 28) – I had tried to get one final Couchsurf in Dunedin for this weekend, but didn’t get any responses, which was a little disappointing. As usual, everything ends up working out and so I made plans with Jasmine and Mark (who I went to the rugby game with) for dinner on Saturday night and then I promised Gary I would make my Blackened Chicken with Rice and Beans for dinner on Sunday night, as a way to thank him for hosting me for the entire month. 
I spent the day in Dunedin, but I had been feeling increasing lonely for several reasons. I was listening to Blue Babies Pink which dealt with Brett’s own loneliness and his ways of trying to deal with it (unsuccessfully), I hadn’t heard back from too many people I was reaching out to, I wasn’t able to see Guy one last time. I was still reaching out to people through iMessage, Facebook messenger, and posting a ton on Instagram and Facebook, but it’s just not that fulfilling compared to an actual conversation through Facetime or in person. Rather than continuing to feel sorry for myself, I combatted my loneliness by writing some postcards to my family members.
It worked! It brightened my mood, and it gave me a reason to be thankful, because I have family that I love and care about.
Later that afternoon, I met up with Håvard, my scuba buddy for my Otago dive that I did the previous weekend. He is originally from Sweden but is studying marine biology here for a term (he returns to Sweden in December). We met at Vanguard Coffee. I arrived a few minutes early, so I could enjoy the Bloom tea and journal for a bit. Here are some pics on the inside and outside of the coffee shop, as well as a selfie of me and Håvard. He also said I should visit Sweden, and maybe I’ll tack that on before I return for the states. It sounds like a wonderful place!
The final pic is just another rainbow I discovered as I went back to my car. It was for some type of preschool / daycare, but I just like to include them in this blog. I’ll make a post about my obsession with rainbows one of these days…
Day 40 (Saturday Sep 29) – I once again went into Dunedin with Tuatoru this morning. It was a little frosty though, so I had to wait for him to warm up before I drove in. I had a little fun while I waited.
I got to Dunedin before Starbucks was even open, and so I took a walk, rediscovering the rainbow fountain that I posted about earlier in September. I had another inspired moment when I realized the street address…
If you want to learn more about 7 signifying completeness, go here
By this time, Starbucks was open, so I went and spent time replying to a post that Andrew Eastman made. We are both on similar journeys about realizing what is important in life, as well as how to get to a happier, healthier, more beautiful place in your life. However, while he likes to ask a lot of questions, I like to answer and share my story (and my wisdom of what I’m learning on my journey). Here is the exchange with Andy’s questions in italics, and my response in bold.
Andrew Eastman (click on the link to go to his Facebook feed)
When will it be enough? What do we need to do first? What do we need to get first? When will we finally be happy? When will we finally get the respect we deserve? When will we be ok? When will we finally be able to do what we love? What will it take to be in a position to work on our passion? When can we finally stop worrying? What has to happen for us to be ready? Ready to go get the relationship? Ready to ask for the promotion? Ready to quit the dead end job and pursue our dreams? Ready to speak our truth? Ready to dive in and not look back? Ready to love ourselves unconditionally? What do we truly want? What are we willing to do to get it? What’s holding us back? How can we take steps towards it? How can we be more courageous? How can we be more self loving and self aware? Where can we get support? Who wants to see us thrive? What are we waiting for? How can right now be enough? How can we see each step as beautifully as the next? How is this moment serving us? How can we take steps to keep growing? Where can we shift our perspective? How long do we want to suffer? When will things be fair? When can we stop blaming? When can we let go? When can we forgive? At what point will we choose to feel good and not angry or sad or disappointed? Why do we choose to be a victim when we can be a hero? Why do we believe we’re not enough when we were given life? Shouldn’t that be enough? When will we get there? How can we be there right now? How can we sustain it? How can we love life just as it is? What does it take? Are we there yet??
It will never be enough for most people, but I’ve already had enough! We first need to embrace our own stories. In order to do that, we need to get to a place where we love ourselves. We will be happy when we can see ourselves for who we are, beings worthy of love. We may never get the respect we deserve, but that’s ok if we don’t, because it says more about the other person when they don’t respect someone for being their true self. We can do what we love RIGHT NOW, if we so choose. It takes a willingness to jump into the unknown to work on our passion. We will stop worrying when we realize we can control almost ANY situation by how we choose to respond to it. We just have to choose a response.
I’m ready for the relationship. I don’t need the promotion and I quit my job to pursue my dreams. I have already spoken my truth, but I will continue to do so. I’ve already dived in (my anthem is Geronimo by Sheppard). I already love myself unconditionally. We truly want to feel loved/accepted/attached. We are willing to do almost anything to get it. We are most often held back by fear. We step towards it by saying fear won’t rule our lives. We can be more courageous/self loving/self aware by understanding, embracing, and sharing our stories. We can get support in our homes, workplaces, churches, community centers, governments, simply by reaching out. I want to see us thrive. I’m not waiting for anything. Right now can be enough when you say it is!
Our steps our beautiful when we see that we are beautiful, even with our imperfections. This moment is serving me by letting me share more of MY story. We embrace change to keep growing. We shift our perspective by not remaining ignorant or distracted. None of us wants to suffer and yet we almost all do. Things will never be fair, people will always blame each other, but the good news is we can ALWAYS let go, we can forgive at any time and we can choose to feel good EVERY SINGLE DAY OF OUR LIVES (not angry/sad/disappointed).
We choose to be victims, because we all want to be saved, to be important enough for someone TO save. But you are right, we are all the heroes of our own stories. Most people believe that just being alive ISN’T enough, that there should be something more, something they can FEEL and EXPERIENCE and BELIEVE IN. But just being alive, being given one more chance to love life, creation, and ourselves is enough. We can get there today! See this response for how we can be there right now. We sustain it by choosing to love, forgive, and accept. We can love life just as it is by realizing that we are now the magicians, witches and gods of previous generations. We can call up moving images from thin air, we can speak to people across vast distances, and we can learn new things every day with the click of a button. We are there…just most people don’t even realize it!
After having that awesome inspiration (as I truly felt my response came from the Holy Spirit), I then went and took care of my body by doing Hot Yoga. I took part in an Ashtanga flow, which is a slower type of yoga, focused on stretching and holding poses, as opposed to Vinyasa flows which have more movement.This was a wonderful morning as I was taking care of my body, mind, and spirit.
For the afternoon, I typed up recommendations for the books and podcast I had experienced this week. I wanted to get these up as I had a BIG announcement to make on Sunday, September 30th. Here are links to those recommendations.
Recommendation #1 – Blue Babies Pink
Recommendation #2 – Torn
Recdomendation #3 – This House of Sky
That evening, I went to Jasmine and Mark’s place. Jasmine mad an awesome Korean meal, and we spent the night eating, drinking and watching rugby.
She said two curious things to me that night. First, she noticed that I am pretty intense and derive a LOT of meaning from experiences and things I see. That’s completely true, and I actually really like this about myself. I do still know how to have fun, laugh, and enjoy myself (the lifts in ruby are so cool). But there is so also much beauty and meaning in my daily life that I notice each and every day, and I like to share that with people.
Second, she has started reading this blog, and noticed that I’m VERY detailed about logging my adventure. I do have a reason for that. I like to think that this adventure (or maybe the next 3 years which will include this trip and grad school) will be my second book, a follow-up novel to My Story. And even if I have to self-publish it, I feel like God is doing big things in my life, and I want to share that with as many people as I can, at least whoever will listen. 🙂
Day 41 (Sunday Sep 30) – The big day! The day that I announced the newest part of this blog. I am going to record a podcast of my story. I will be dividing it up into episodes and posting them during the next 3 months, with the final post occurring on January 1, 2019…exactly one year after I ended my relationship with Tracy.
It was announced as Recommendation #0.
Next, I drove into Dunedin. I parked my car and started walking down the street, when I had an interesting encounter with a bird!
I was in Dunedin to meet some friends for breakfast. I re-met Josh, the student I met at the drag show two weeks before, and Matthew, a friend of his and one of the people that organized the drag show. We had breakfast (I had pancakes, bacon, and sausage) and I learned more about the university and their lives. It was nice to share a meal with both of them. Unfortunately, I once again neglected to get a picture.
Later that morning. I went to church at Equippers Church as it had been recommended to me by one of the workers at the Subway in Mosgiel (I ate a lot of meals there in September). I had seen on the church website that one of their beliefs was this:
We believe that marriage is ordained by God in Scripture for the exclusive union between one man and one woman, for their mutual help and comfort.
What’s interesting to note is any partnership between two people is truly for their “mutual help and comfort”, and so why shouldn’t homosexuals also be able to receive that same type of help and comfort? It was a question I wanted to ask the pastor…
The service went well, I enjoyed the worship and the teaching. After the service, the pastor and I had a talk about the church’s stance on homosexuality, and it was a very good, heartfelt conversation. While we continue to disagree on the “sin” of homosexuality, I appreciated meeting him and having the exchange. He also offered to put me in contact with the pastor of the Christchurch Equippers church if I needed a place to stay there.
After church, I went back to Mosgiel, got my supplies for dinner, and cooked Gary dinner. I also had bought him a bluetooth speaker at the Warehouse, so I gave that to him and wrote a card thanking him for his hospitality. We actually hung out for several hours, and he was appreciative of the positivity and life I brought to his house. He said he considers me a friend, which is mutual, as he is someone I would turn to if I needed help while I’m here in New Zealand.
My final pictures for the week and month – I completed my activity rings. This marked an entire month of completing activity, so I was rewarded with several achievements!
Some of my stats will be off this month (because of the 730 minute workout and 17 hour stand on the day I had to manually complete my rings), but my calorie count and steps from my move goal is legit:
Total Active Calories Burned – September 2018 – 26,500
Total Steps Taken – September 2018 – 560,000
Average Daily Steps Taken – September 2018 – 18,660
Final Thoughts for September 2018:
I accomplished more than I thought possible, I acquired more inventory than I expected, I walked farther that I anticipated, and I had so many experiences of the Holy Trinity which were documented in this blog!!!
I’m grateful to God for keeping me safe, helping me heal from a lingering rash, and putting people, places, and things in my life that encouraged me, strengthened my faith, and lifted my spirit. Thank you for following along on my journey. I hope your journey, whatever path it is taking, can be as rewarding as this month has been for me.
Here is the final song from the ReDefined playlist, which ended on September 30th. While the song and video may be talking about an earthly love, the chorus functions beautifully as a worship song to my God…and it even has a trinity of performers. 😉